Pittsburgh Review

City of Pittsburgh issued the following announcement on Oct. 26.

The Office of Mayor William Peduto has announced that Pittsburgh-based The Efficiency Network (TEN) has been selected for the citywide LED streetlight conversion project. The project will convert the City’s existing inventory of 35,000 overhead streetlights to LED in order to save over $1 million a year in energy cost, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create union jobs and generate workforce development opportunities. New streetlights will comply with the City’s newly passed Dark Skies Lighting standards to reduce light pollution and aid in a healthy natural environment for people, animals and bird migration. 

The $16 million project will deliver LED lights that are more durable and reduce energy consumption by 40-50% based on the U.S. Department of Energy and industry standards and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on the reduced consumption of electricity. The project will also reduce the costs and frequency of outages and replacements and provide a fully functional turnkey system that will include data collection and data analysis. 

Throughout the second half of 2020 and early 2021, Pittsburgh’s Departments of Mobility & Infrastructure (DOMI) and Innovation & Performance (I&P) contracted with the company Cyclomedia to conduct a full photographic survey of the city’s utility poles and streetlights, leading to the first ever full geographic database of Pittsburgh’s streetlights. With this data, the City was able to estimate how many new lights might be needed to address equity concerns related to the availability of street lighting in city neighborhoods. With funding from the American Rescue Plan, the City will add up to 15,000 additional new lights to address areas of lighting inequities. 

 TEN will also be providing workforce development opportunities as part of the project, including their partnership with the A. Philip Randolph Institute to connect young people to vocations and offer multiple pathways for employment after the project is complete. Additionally they are creating new apprenticeship funnel program with Pittsburgh Public Schools CTE program that will have a curriculum created by TEN, Duquesne Light Company, IBEW Local #5 and Local #29. TEN will deliver this project utilizing the trains local workforce provided by IBEW Local #5. 

“TEN cannot be more honored to support the City of Pittsburgh in making this significant infrastructure improvement that will benefit all city residents,” said Troy Geanopulos, CEO of TEN. “In addition to improving the quality of lighting throughout the city and saving it valuable funds, we will use the opportunity to work with the A. Phillip Randolph Institute to identify and train city residents to support some of the workforce needs of the project.” 

The public is encouraged to learn more about the project and stay up to date with project updates and opportunities for engagement and comment through the City’s online public engagement portal, EngagePGH, here. 

The project is being managed by DOMI in collaboration with I&P, Office of Management and Budget and Department of City Planning’s Sustainability and Resilience Division. Installation is expected to start in spring 2022 and should take two and a half years to complete. 

Original source can be found here.